Axolotl coming home?

[Axolotlet]

I left my axolotl with a friend while on vacation. I moved him from his normal 30 gallon tank to a 5 gallon tank, which he's been in for a few weeks now (it's cycled). He'll be home in a week and all I have is this 30 gal empty tank, should I fill it partially with uncycled water and mix in the contents of the 5 gal tank he's living in now? Will that be enough to cycle it? Will it be safe to move him from his small cycled tank to a large partially cycled one right away? Thank you!!

 

[Cacique]

I think if you transfer any substrate, decor, plants, etc along with the filter, it should at least go a long way to get your cycle going. If you can't use the filter, squeeze the media into the tank, but if you can just set the filter next to the 30gal filter and run it for a week or two.

It would also be a good idea to test the water in the tank every day or every other day to make sure the parameters stay good. I would do that and treat it as if you're doing a fish-in cycling; constant testing and more frequent water changes until you see the parameters are good and stable.